Combination lock

ABSTRACT

A combination lock having means for fastening it on a door, and also means for obscuring the fastening means. The combination is capable of being set from inside the door or outside the door. The lock has a spring latch for emergency use to escape from the building. The lock has an improved locking bar. Also optionally for use in motels and the like, it has a separate combination which may be used by the motel personnel to take off the inner housing for changing the lock.

United States Patent 91 Windle 51 Oct. 29, 1974 COMBINATION LOCK [76]Inventor: John Charles Windle, PO. Box 370,

l-Ioney Brook, Pa. 19344 [22] Filed: Apr. 30, 1973 21 Appl. No.2 355,415

[52] US. Cl. 70/298, 70/443 [51] Int. Cl E05b 137/16 [58] Field ofSearch 70/287, 298, 315, 319,

70/333 R, 443, DIG. 56, DIG. 57

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 834,817 10/1906 Leighton..70/443 3,585,825 6/1971 Windle ..70/298 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 4/1924 Great Britain 70/298 Primary Examiner-Albert G.Craig, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Jackson, Jackson & Chovanes 5 7ABSTRACT A combination lock having means for fastening it on a door, andalso means for obscuring the fastening means. The combination is capableof being set from inside the door or outside the door. The lock has aspring latch for emergency use to escape from the building. The lock hasan improved locking bar. Also optionally for use in motels and the like,it has a separate combination which may be used by the motel personnelto take off the inner housing for changing the lock.

6 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures FIG. 4

FIGS

l COMBINATION LOCK DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION This invention is animprovement on Windle, US. Pat. No. 3,585,825, granted June 22, 1971 forCombination Lock.

One purpose of the invention is to obscure or protect the heads ofscrews or other fastening devices which are used -to secure-the lock toa door, preferably by a cover plate which is fastened by means which aredependent upon knowing the combination for their removal.

A further purpose is to make the lock capable of being locked orunlocked from either inside or outside of the building or both.

A further purpose is to provide an emergency release from inside thebuilding used by a person who is in too much of a hurry or too confusedto stop to work the combination.

A further purpose is an improved construction of a locking bar.

A further purpose is to provide a separate combination useable by themaid or other motel personnel to take off the inner housing forresetting the lock after the'patron leaves the motel room or hotel room.

Further purposes appear in the specification and the claims.

In my prior patent, US. Pat. No. 3,585,825, the lock could be reset by aperson who did not know the combination, but had access to the inside ofthe door. In this invention the lock is completely impregnable to anyonenot knowing the combination, even though the person has access to theinside of the door. The lock is fastened to the door suitably by screws.Then the heads of the screws are protected and concealed by a platewhich is fastened by bolts, the bolts being protected against tamperingby a housing which cannot be removed unless by a person who knows thecombination of the lock.

The pins which must be set are accessible from the inside and theoutside of the door by a person .who wants to lock orunlock the lock.

While it is possible to unlock the lock by a person working from theinside, it is possible that such a person might become confused or be ina hurry and for this reason it is made possible to use an emergencyspring latch from inside the building.

The construction of the lockingbar particularly has been improved.

In case the lock is used on motel rooms or hotel rooms, there is adangerthat a former guest may keep a record of the combination of thelock and open it when he is no longer a guest. Because of this, in anoptional form, the lock is provided with a portion having a separatecombination on the inside only so that it can be unlocked by a maid orthe like, and the main combination can be reset either routinely or atany desired periodic interval. by removing the inner housing.

The drawings are illustrative of the invention, choosing the form shownwhich will best illustrate the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective showing the lock mounted on the inside of a dooror the like.

FIG. 2 is a perspective showing the lock of FIG. 1 from the outside.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective of certain parts of the lock of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is an elevation from inside the door showing the outer housingbroken away and the inner housing in part broken away.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of FIG. 4 partially broken away.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section of FIG. 4 on the line 6-6.

FIG. 7 is a perspective of the locking bar.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective of the locking bar.

FIG. 9 is a vertical section of a modified form of lock.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the lock of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the outside housing removed from the rest ofthe lock.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the lock showing the inner housing with theoutside housing removed.

FIG. 13 is a top view of the lock showing the inner housing with theoutside housing removed.

The lock comprises pin assemblies 20, triangular guides 22 in two bankswhich comprise the lock, a locking bar 24, an inner housing 26, an outerhousing 28, an intermediate cover plate 30, an outer plate 32, and aninner plate 33.

The pin assembly has a triangular contour as explained in my patent, toprevent jiggling and also has threaded pins 34 at each end and suitablelock nuts before threading into the triangular pins. Unlike my patent,however, the pin assembly has pins 34 on each end so that thecombination can be set from inside and also outside the building in anappropriate case. The pins have a slot which will allow the boltassembly to pass if they are put in a suitable position.

The locking bar 24 consists of two special racks 40, one above and onebelow, which have triangular contours fitting the pins. These are unitedto the bar 42 by a screw at one end. At the other end there is a slot 45to permit a bolt 62 to slide. This bar 42 is manipulated from outsidethe building by a handle 46 united by a screw 48 to handle component 50which is screwed into a socket 54 on the bar. From the inside of thebar, the bar is manipulated by handle 56 which is held to handlecomponent 58 by a suitable screw and the handle component is bolted to asocket 60 on the bar 42.

To provide a latch for emergency release, the bolt 42 has an articulatedlatch 62 which has at its rear end longitudinally extending springguides 64 which have around them spiral compression springs 66 and ontheir end have plate 68 which is mounted on bar 42. There are wells 70extending longitudinally of the bar 42. The Keeper is engaged by latch62.

Thus if the lock is engaged and someone within the room wants to get outwithout unlocking the lock, latch 62 can be depressed by handle 74engaging the latch and held thereto by a suitable screw but on the otherhand from the outside of the building it is impossible to do so;

At the end of the inner housing 26 adjoining the keeper, the slidingbolt is guided by a guide 76 which is attached to the inner housing bysuitable screws. On the outer housing 28 there is a guide 78 in the formof a cross and a restricting guide 80 is superimposed to engage the endsof the racks and prevent the bolt from escaping.

In order to attach the lock to a door or the like, screws 90 are used tomount the intermediate plate 30 and permissibly the inner plate 33 tothe door, and the .Access to studs 92 is permitted when the lock isunlocked, but not when the lock is locked, by removing the outer housingby sliding the bar and by a long screwdriver through the bolt holeunscrewing a screw at location 94 which secures together the outerhousing and the inner housing and permits the outer housing to beremoved.

In case of a motel or hotel, where it is desirable to change thecombination after each guest, the form of FIGS. 9 to 13 is used. Thishas a secondary combination 100 available only on the inside of the lockas best seen in FIGS. 9 and 12. The combination 100 works on the backlocking bar 104, which is joined by screws 106 to inner back plate 108which is joined by screws 109 to outside back plate 110 which is joinedto outside housing 112. This outside housing is made removable bysliding it by slots 114 which pass the-pins.

The maid knowing the combination 100 removes the outside housing 112,exposing the inside housing 116 which is connected to front plate 120and by screws 122 is connected by the inside cover plate 118 and theremainder of the inside housing. Thus, the maid can remove the insidecover plate and take apart the inside housing. Having changed thecombination, she can then reassemble the inside housing 116 and thenapply the outside housing 112. If desired, the maid can change thecombination 100 as well as the main combination.

it will be evident that various expedients can be adopted to permit themaid to. make separate correction of the main combination withoutknowing it.

In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of myinvention without copying the structure shown, and I therefore claim allsuch insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of myclaims.

Having thus described my invention, What 1 claim as new and desire tosecure by letters patents is:

1. In a combination lock, a lock consisting of a housing, pins andguides in the housing, a sliding locking bar operating in the pins andguides, and permitting removal of the sliding locking bar when thelockis unset, an intermediate plate on the lock for mounting the lock andpermitting fastening of the lock to a door, screws fixing theintermediate plate to the door, an outer plate covering the screws,means for fastening the outer plate to the intermediate plate, and meansfor covering the means for fastening the outer plate to the intermediateplate, said means for covering being operative when the lock is lockedand said means for covering being exposed for removal when the lock isunlocked and the locking bar removed.

2. The invention of claim 1, in which the last means is an outer housingwhich is capable of being removed when thelock is unlocked.

3. In a combination lock, two sets of guides having cooperatingtriangular contours, pins of triangular contour cooperating with theguides, a bar slidable with respect to the pins, consisting of twosets'of teeth of triangular contour on opposite sides of the bar,cooperating with the pins, the bar forming a cross contour and means forstopping the bar from sliding at the end.

' 4. The invention of claim 3, in which the bar is of two parts, onepart slidable with respect to the other part, spring means between thetwo parts of the bar and means capable of being grasped by the hand topermit the end of the bar to he slid against the action of the springwhen the other part of the bar is locked.

5. In a combination lock, a housing for the lock, pins of triangularcontour, guides having a contour which fits the pins, a bar slidable inthe guides and capable of passing the pins in one position of the pinsand being obstructed by the pins in another position of the pins, anauxiliary lock consisting of auxiliary pins accessible from the insideof the building, auxiliary guides matching the auxiliary pins, anauxiliary bar capable of cooperating with the auxiliary guides and pins,and means connecting the auxiliary lock to the housing whereby thehousing can be removed and the main lock reset by a person knowing thecombination of the auxiliary lock.

6. A combination lock comprising a housing, a main combination lock inthe housing, and an auxiliary combination lock within the housing,whereby on opening the auxiliary combination lock, the housing may beremoved and the main combination reset.

1. In a combination lock, a lock consisting of a housing, pins andguides in the housing, a sliding locking bar operating in the pins andguides, and permitting removal of the sliding locking bar when the lockis unset, an intermediate plate on the lock for mounting the lock andpermitting fastening of the lock to a door, screws fixing theintermediate plate to the door, an outer plate covering the screws,means for fastening the outer plate to the intermediate plate, and meansfor covering the means for fastening the outer plate to the intermediateplate, said means for covering being operative when the lock is lockedand said means for covering being exposed for removal when the lock isunlocked and the locking bar removed.
 2. The invention of claim 1, inwhich the last means is an outer housing which is capable of beingremoved when the lock is unlocked.
 3. In a combination lock, two sets ofguides having cooperating triangular contours, pins of triangularcontour cooperating with the guides, a bar slidable with respect to thepins, consisting of two sets of teeth of triangular contour on oppositesides of the bar, cooperating with the pins, the bar forming a crosscontour and means for stopping the bar from sliding at the end.
 4. Theinvention of claim 3, in which the bar is of two parts, one partslidable with respect to the other part, spring means between the twoparts of the bar and means capable of being grasped by the hand topermit the end of the bar to be slid against the action of the springwhen the other part of the bar is locked.
 5. In a combination lock, ahousing for the lock, pins of triangular contour, guides having acontour which fits the pins, a bar slidable in the guides and capable ofpassing the pins in one position of the pins and being obstructed by thepins in another position of the pins, an auxiliary lock consisting ofauxiliary pins accessible from the inside of the building, auxiliaryguides matching the auxiliary pins, an auxiliary bar capable ofcooperating with the auxiliary guides and pins, and means connecting theauxiliary lock to the housing whereby the housing can be removed and themain lock reset by a person knowing the combination of the auxiliarylock.
 6. A combination lock comprising a housing, a main combinationlock in the housing, and an auxiliary combination lock within thehousing, whereby on opening the auxiliary combination lock, the housingmay be removed and the main combination reseT.